Miss Independence

The last couple of months Alyssa has definitely started to show her independence. She no longer will crawl down the stairs but insists that either you walk down with her or will now walk down by herself. For her birthday, although only a few days ago, she received her own chair with footstool and she insists on sitting in that and watching her morning cartoons with her blanket and milk. I have noticed when I take her somewhere either the park or museum she is now fine wandering around by herself and doesn't want or need me to be right on top of her, although I'm always close by. I have been giving her options to choose from as far as activities to do or what to have for lunch and she seems to enjoy this.
She is doing wonderful in her big girl bed. I'm so glad that we got this taken care of before Baby Deuce arrives. Nothing more to say on the potty training front. I'm not pushing it and still don't feel like she is quite ready for it yet but hopefully within the next six months or so. Her favorite words are now "mine" and "no." She has thrown some nice tantrums and like her doctor said everyone goes through the terrible two's and if they say they don't they are lying! I so agree.
Well my doctors appointment went well today. Everything is progressing normally. My BP was up but nothing they were to concerned with at this point and my cervix is soft. So now I'm just counting down and hoping for a St. Patty's day baby. We can't wait to meet this little man and get going with life.

I'm two!

Happy Birthday to Miss Alyssa who is now 2! What a great birthday she had surrounded by her friends and family. It makes Cory and I so happy at how loved she is by so many people. On Saturday we threw her a party for her friends and her at our gym. They had a pretty good set up. We had the bounce house in the gym for 45min and than time up in the "yoga" room for dessert and gifts. Alyssa had around 10 friends there and they all had so much fun in the bounce house. Talk about a work out! I probably shouldn't have been in there but who could resist?! Afterwards baby Deuce was letting me know though that it was too much. Once we got back to the house Alyssa laid down on the couch and took a nap for several hours.
That night at our house we had family over for a nacho/taco bar. It worked out really good and I think everyone enjoyed it. We just had Alyssa's left over Elmo cupcakes that I made for dessert and we opened presents. Cory and I got Alyssa a play kitchen for her bedroom and she got lots of stuff to go along with that along with tons of other stuff. One of her favorites her cousin Nicole got her which was a couple of bracelets. Alyssa is so funny with them and she is the first to tell you that they are hers.
She has been having a very busy week and I'm thankful for that since now we are on the countdown for Baby Deuce's arrival. She has her 2yr check up tomorrow and I'm anxious to find out her stats. Her gymnastics class has been wonderful for her and I can already see a big difference in her and how she loves to practice her somersault's at home.

A week behind and forward

February is the shortest month and for some reason seems to be the busiest for us. This last week was actually our "slow" week. We went out on Friday and had dinner with Nicole to celebrate her birthday. It was nice to get out and be among adults only something that I no longer take for granted. We had a good dinner and conversation and after went to get dessert at the Melting Pot but only because Nicole wanted it ; )

Saturday was such a beautiful day. We spent it hanging around the house outside and getting it cleaned up and ready for spring. Which can't come quick enough. Alyssa played on her tricycle and later on we barbecued for the first time this year. Nothing is better than the smell of a grill!

We are all recovering from colds, which couldn't have come at a worse time for us. Cory got to go to Alyssa's gymnastics class and I think he enjoyed seeing what she does. I know he is glad that I keep her so involved in activities. We also had her playgroup at the house this week. It was crazy having 7 kids plus the moms inside the house at once, and not even all of them were hear today, and the chaos it brings. For those of you who know how big our house is you would agree. One of the ladies and I are both having another one so that will be ten kids among us all! I'm so glad Alyssa is involved in this. I feel it's so important for young children to be able to interact on a regular basis with children their own age. They learn so much from children that they don't get from adults. I maybe wrong for this but I think you can tell a big difference in children who aren't around kids than those who are.

The rest of the week is filled with my doctor appointments, lunch with friends, a Valentines cookie decorating party (for Alyssa) and my ladies night out. Next week is filled with more of the same along with a great weekend of birthday celebrations!

Im a big girl now!

Alyssa is home from her vacation at Grandma and Grandpa Simmons and I don't know who exhausted who out more! I'm in the process of getting her back onto her normal routine. It was very cute when she first saw me. She was sitting on her grandma's lap and her eyes got big, smiled and came over to me, giving me a huge hug and kisses. I sat down with her on my lap and she kept looking at me smiling and hugging me. I always wonder if she will remember or miss me but no worries, she did!

When she was gone we finished getting some stuff done around the house that needed to be and I changed over her bed into a toddler bed. I wasn't sure how it was going to work out but she has actually done pretty good. The first time in it was at night time so I was a little more concerned but she did good. I did find her on the floor when I let the dog out and put her back into bed and then another time she was crawling back over to it. I don't know if she fell out or what but I put her right back in and she was fine the rest of the night. The following morning she did great in crawling out and going to her door and came on out. Nap time was another story. She did get up a couple of times and after the third time she was down and out! Hopefully this is all a good sign at how easy the adjustment is going to be. This picture was of her just getting up from her nap. Now let's see how the potty training goes!

This month is so busy for us and of course it's the shortest month at that. This is my slow week, so I'm going to try and get some rest and any loose ends caught up. I also need to figure out what I'm going to do for Alyssa's cake. Alyssa started her gymnastics today and did great. She really liked playing on the balance beam and did great putting her food in front of another. I guess some kids have trouble with this. I will get some pictures next week when Cory comes with us.